Possible Identity of a Kuwaiti Hacker NYANxCAT
By Posted by Yury Polozov on October 19, 2020 at 12:38pm
Published: 2020-10-19 · Archived: 2026-04-06 01:07:12 UTC
NYANxCAT is a prolific hacker who programs new pieces and versions of
malware, shares it widely, and records blackhat hacker educational YouTube videos which has over 150,000 views.  He uses
GitHub repository, sells his hacker tools and services using PayPal and Bitcoin.  In this report, we discuss some of the
samples of NYANXCat malware, his business models, and possible Kuwaiti identity.
(Figure 1. NYANxCAT GitHub logo)
NYANxCAT Hacker Profile
Name:         possible name: Hmoud [Humooud] Meshal Aljraid [Al-Jerid].
                  Possible name in Arabic: يدّ الجر حمود.
Location:     Likely location: Kuwait.
possible location: ST 58 HOUSE# 8, Jahra, Kuwait
Aliases:       NYANxCAT, NYAN-x-CAT, NYAN_x_CAT, NYAN CAT, nyancat, NC, humooud.m, HumoudMJ, hmj_7,
bomish3l.
Email:         humooud.m@gmail.com, NYANxCAT@protonmail.com, NYANxCAT@pm.me
Profiles:       github[.]com/NYAN-x-CAT “NYAN CAT”.
twitter[.]com/NYAN_x_CAT “n”, joined June 2016, posts starting July 2019.
twitter[.]com/HumoudMJ, joined December 2009.
Google ID: 106720573170316530671.
youtube[.]com/c/NYANCATx/about, started in Nov 20, 2018.
youtube[.]com/c/Bomish3l/, active 2013-2017.
pastebin[.]com/u/NYANxCAT PRO account started January 2018.
sellix[.]io/NYANxCAT.
Discord: NYANxCAT#0662 (Lime Server: 388 members).
Bitcoin:        12DaUTCemhDEzNw7cAFg9FndzcWkYZt6C8, 1jVe7d8GQB8z2ZqK6U8SCYAgeCJuYxaFo.
Hacker forums: hackforums[.]net, cracked[.]to.
Programming languages: C#, Visual Basic .NET, JavaScript
Programmed:        LimeCrypter, VBS-Shell, Bitcoin Address Grabber v0.3.5, Lime-Miner, Lime-Dropper-1, Dropless-Malware v0.1,  Csharp-Loader, Anti Analysis v0.2,                                                                     Disable Windows Defender
v1.1.
Edited/improved:   Revenge-RAT v0.3, Neshta 1.0.
https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/possible-identity-of-a-kuwaiti-hacker-nyanxcat
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Languages:          English, Arabic.
Details
NYANxCAT Possible Identity
NYANxCAT stays under the radar for Google/Youtube, PayPal, Github and other services, as he claims his blackhat hacking
videos, tools, and malware are only “for educational purposes.”  At the same time, NYANxCAT hides his real-life identity
behind aliases.  During his recent hacker career, he was also using semi-private tools such as Protonmail for communication
and Bitcoin for donations and payments.  Despite these measures, Red Sky Alliance analysts were able to analyze
NYANxCAT’s communications and identify a possible hint to his real identity:
Figure 2. NYANxCAT hacking video and a PayPal donation link
Some of the NYANxCat’s hacking videos had a Paypal donation link given via an URL shortener: bit[.]ly/2B07Jaa (Figure
2).[1]  This link is connected to Paypal hosted button id UEAXKSXDFJ2X6 and exposes email address
humooud.m@gmail.com (Figure 3).
Figure 3. NYANxCAT linked PayPal page exposes his personal Gmail address
Analysis of the past uses of humooud.m@gmail.com shows that this email was used in 2017 to register domain odin-samsung[.]com. These records expose possible NYANxCAT identity as Hmoud Aljraid and his possible address in Jahra,
Kuwait (Table 1).
Table 1. WHOIS historic record includes NYANxCAT’s email address
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Domain Name: odin-samsung[.]com
Time Period: 2017-02-09 – 2018-02-12
Registrant Name: Hmoud Aljraid
Registrant Address: ST 58 HOUSE# 8 Jahra KU 65852 KW
Registrant Phone: 965.9982545
Registrant Email: humooud.m@gmail.com
Note that “Humooud” and “Hmoud” are likely the same Arabic name that could be written in English in more than two
ways.
Additional research on humooud.m@gmail.com reveals that it is connected to Google User ID 106720573170316530671.
That is listed as Humoud Meshal and is active leaving Google reviews in the vicinity of Kuwait City in the last 3 years, and
Sri Lanka 6 years ago (Figure 4).[2]
Figure 4. Humoud Meshal’s locations in Kuwait and Sri Lanka
Kuwaiti location matches cases when NYANxCAT actually put Kuwait as his country on his accounts (e.g. Github).[3]  Past
Sri Lankan location matches the nature of his past domain registration activity (Table 1).  Most of NYANxCAT persona
content is in English, but he is still able to have a conversation in Arabic as could be seen in some of his Youtube threads
(Figure 5).
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Figure 5. NYANxCAT is proficient in Arabic, Youtube comments
The search for Humoud Meshal’s user picture reveals connection to technical Arabic blog bomish3l[.]com.  This blog
references additional Youtube “Bomish3l” and Twitter @HumoudMJ accounts (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Humoud’s photo on Twitter (left) and on his autotranslated blog (right)
Humoud’s Twitter account, @HumoudMJ follows a number of exploit-related accounts.   He lists his name in Arabic, that
autotranslates as Hammoud Al-Jerid which matches the historic WHOIS record (Table 1).
Humoud’s Youtube account had videos on a couple of topics including Android and hacking, e.g. video, “Hacking devices in
wireless networks using your Android phone”.[4]  It is interesting that that YouTube account was posting videos since 2013,
last one was in 2017.  But in 2018, we see another YouTube channel becoming active: NYANxCAT.[5]
Humoud Meshal aka Humoud Aljraid uses aliases like HumoudMJ or hmj_7, so it is logical that Meshal is his middle name
(M), while Aljraid/Al Jerid is his last [J].[6]
As NYAnxCAT and Humoud accounts are connected via the used PayPal and Gmail accounts, Kuwaiti location, hacking
interest, and language capabilities, we assess with medium confidence that Humoud is the real NYANxCAT identity (see
The NYANxCAT Hacker Profile above).
From Donations to Services
NYANxCAT was trying to monetize his notoriety in various ways.  He would often include donation links into his source
code and educational videos – often it was his Bitcoin addresses, sometimes PayPal donation link (see above, Figure 2,3).
https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/possible-identity-of-a-kuwaiti-hacker-nyanxcat
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Figure 7. NYANxCAT hacker shop at Sellix as of July 2020
NYANxCAT created a personal shop page at Sellix.  Earlier this year, he was selling three items: his C# hacking tools and
malware coding services, his hacker tool Lime Crypter, and his malware Mass Logger (Figure 7).  Later in October 2020,
NYANxCAT removed the offer of the programming services, leaving the malware and the hacking tool for sale.
NYANxCAT Samples
We analyze various malicious samples associated with NYANxCAT – mostly recent ones from September 2020. These
samples cover different stages of malicious attacks, some of them are source code and crypters used for weaponization –
preparation of the attack.  Some are the delivery mechanism for later stage malware.  Others are installation artifacts. See the
brief description below and the Indicators table attached. We also included some personal strings: emails, cryptocurrency
addresses, aliases.  Those are useful for the profile building, but they are also helping find new samples in the wild as they
often have strings with NYANcCAT aliases or his Github page. When listing indicators, we do not include “NYAN CAT”
alias as it brings some true positives, but also bring many false positive as it was an original popular meme name that was
adopted by this hacker.
LimeCrypter
NYANxCAT programmed and is promoting and distributing his hacker tool called LimeCrypter (also Lime-Crypter).  One
of the latest LimeCrypter version seen in the wild is 2.0.7552.41963, executable sample hash:
f55a23559bb981f9a054297b003293b890b8caa2b7abccef9464b817787352a6.[7]
This hacker tool calls to NYANxCAT hidden paste on Pastebin for the list of recent upgrades and added features.  It claims a
first release date of 18 July 2020, and the last update as of this writing, 8 October 2020.[8]  NyanxCAT Github shows that he
was working on the LimeCrypter since at least August 2019, possibly since 2018.[9]
Figure 8. NYANxCAT’s Youtube video shows LimeCrypter made a malware undetectable
Since August 2020, NYANxCAT posted four videos explaining and promoting this hacker tool, showcasing how it helps to
avoid antivirus detections (Figure 8).[10]
RATs
AsyncRAT by NYANxCAT can often be seen among samples in the wild.  Executable sample hash:
https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/possible-identity-of-a-kuwaiti-hacker-nyanxcat
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22096a0846ab1399647bb2cc5596c649fa6508d2bd09db05476b27acd9d4eea2.[11] Async RAT can be detected using Yara
rule win_asyncrat by Johannes Bader @viql.[12]
Archived sample containing another NYANxCAT-related RAT, Revenge-RAT v3, could be found using the following hash:
2cf26e5fe9f31386d57170cc51ec46d6e4b73e4760826d65ca1a7afc8c82acc2.[13]
Downloaders
A few small NYANxCAT related samples in the wild represent various downloaders (droppers).  Those include JS
Downloader, VBS Shell, and a number of unidentified droppers (see Indicators Table attached below).  A sample of JS
Downloader code with payload URL could be found using this hash:
5747ad762067a8a6617d2a4362304c24e11b21d6deed2da2adb31b8d55a4607c.[14]
Miners
Some of the NYANxCAT-related malware has cryptomining capabilities.   One example is NYANxCAT-branded Lime
Miner, executable sample hash:
74de28d70ee4bd414597561b696f865cb3c88fd3626161d36c423d35154e11a5.[15] Another example is a case of
AsyncRAT.exe with Monero cryptocurrency mining capability (see Indicators below).
Modifications
It was also common for NYANxCAT to take an old piece of malicious code and to adapt/modify it for more malicious
potential.  Examples are Revenge-RAT v0.3, Neshta 1.0 – modified and branded by NYANxCAT.[16]
Waiving Responsibility
NYANxCAT often includes a waiver that his code is not for malicious use. But examining samples of code signed by
NYANxCAT we can see them dropping ransomware, backdoors, and other kind of malware.[17] Moreover, studying
NYANxCAT videos confirms those are not just sandbox exercises, but involve actual victims.
Conclusion
NYANxCAT started his blackhat hacker career in at least 2018.  While he is not the most advanced, his opportunistic
behavior and abuse of legitimate services such as YouTube and Github allows him to rapidly expand his criminal network
and is negatively affecting the number of his victims.
Indicators
Indicator Type Kill_Chain_Phase First_Seen Last_Seen Comm
9b62966982e91013c608f2542df01411704fe40c8d0cd63ced524f4ed33bab8d SHA256 Weaponization 9/28/20 9/28/20
LimeC
version
2.0.752
90c2bb06bf684b2e6204418abeee6c81a552d997b163599e8da60c035223a230 SHA256 Delivery 9/27/20 9/27/20 Dropp
b7460d79341ad3ad3acd17703fbf9e1f3b1fdbd1cff7ab8e3607899ced8c61bc SHA256 Installation 9/22/20 9/22/20 Async
5747ad762067a8a6617d2a4362304c24e11b21d6deed2da2adb31b8d55a4607c SHA256 Delivery 9/25/20 9/25/20
JS Dow
by NY
github[.]com/NYAN-x-CAT URL Weaponization 10/13/17 10/14/20
Nyanx
malwa
reposit
pastebin[.]com/raw/WJD0PWxV URL Weaponization 9/28/20 10/14/20
LimeC
calls th
for a ch
https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/possible-identity-of-a-kuwaiti-hacker-nyanxcat
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humooud.m@gmail.com Email Weaponization 8/16/19 10/14/20
Nyanx
PayPal
email
NYANxCAT@protonmail.com Email NA 10/15/19 10/14/20 Hacke
NYANxCAT@pm.me Email NA 1/9/19 10/14/20 Hacke
NYANxCAT String NA 1/9/19 10/14/20 Hacke
NYAN_x_CAT String NA 1/9/19 10/14/20 Hacke
NYAN-x-CAT String NA 1/9/19 10/14/20 Hacke
12DaUTCemhDEzNw7cAFg9FndzcWkYZt6C8 String Weaponization 5/27/19 10/14/20
Nyanx
Bitcoin
1jVe7d8GQB8z2ZqK6U8SCYAgeCJuYxaFo String Weaponization 1/9/19 10/14/20
Nyanx
Bitcoin
2cf26e5fe9f31386d57170cc51ec46d6e4b73e4760826d65ca1a7afc8c82acc2 SHA256 Weaponization 9/14/20 9/14/20
Reven
v3 -
NYAN
e62cc243c2bb10a2613a64f8b59ad27ec6f7592868902b6793dceb230b8f72bf SHA256 Delivery 9/13/20 9/13/20 Dropp
nyanxcat.vbs File Delivery 9/13/20 9/13/20 Dropp
914b759c186e0cdb0e82c4bbbbd5257fd1c7a60db0e77bbc24778362ee549bce SHA256 Delivery 9/13/20 9/13/20 Dropp
f8890477e760cdb8f4a4fdbf8e8b5b1a224bc87046875b9ee17a9fcb93d2f118 SHA256 Exploitation 9/13/20 9/13/20
File ty
EXE
233587a133e3e112f42a5b456c94fca514d364f10b532291c1cc3c0aea92526e SHA256 Delivery 9/11/20 9/11/20 Dropp
ec5d16ff69ca2221bd60f41049f9862fe4cba0dd238959d78620140a00331250 SHA256 Delivery 9/11/20 9/11/20 Dropp
54ea7614e8220bf4cad9ccd2c87d1470e341ef14b9d7c02ebe432a9c3139b8ab SHA256 Installation 9/10/20 9/10/20
VBS-S
NYAN
ASCII
progra
http://f0439583.xsph[.]ru/Cryptolocker.exe URL Delivery 9/14/20 9/14/20 Ransom
4b7bf7d3fac0ae3fe45a3d126bd07b65d5c824a5a423823f7c8900d9da4a1a1e SHA256 Delivery 9/10/20 9/10/20 Dropp
https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/possible-identity-of-a-kuwaiti-hacker-nyanxcat
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00714fae672b284458a4784ee651ed42bf51ec5fead0cf4c17082f75ac5f782b SHA256 Weaponization 9/9/20 9/9/20
Bitcoin
Grabbe
74de28d70ee4bd414597561b696f865cb3c88fd3626161d36c423d35154e11a5 SHA256 Installation 9/9/20 9/9/20
Lime M
0.3.0.0
type W
EXE
f1ad4dbe66d9570c067889cbb0876c3771c6750e6e5a96c3d784336fcc5c88a4 SHA256 Weaponization 9/8/20 9/8/20
Lime-C
1.0.0.0
5882452922bf3c291f64ce3cfe5ad557dc8911a101495aa923fb3c521c0446fd SHA256 Weaponization 9/8/20 9/8/20
Lime-C
1.0.0.0
aca10c4a756f850bbb748715d2b5ba1e3466a6309d630a99f834dcc61abfc945 SHA256 Weaponization 9/8/20 9/8/20
Lime-C
1.0.0.0
22096a0846ab1399647bb2cc5596c649fa6508d2bd09db05476b27acd9d4eea2 SHA256 Installation 9/7/20 9/7/20 Async
a74af46f97845d0da1d2e761b85f42664c77ca1f2378a3c1e22fc1d0e2dd5188 SHA256 Installation 9/7/20 9/7/20
VBS-S
NYAN
ASCII
progra
0430bad23899d3b9ec9e52f587e944075b793f55f3f2f32283910343668a6785 SHA256 Delivery 9/6/20 9/6/20 Dropp
96de85fba7d85672bf59601c518aba429a8415089851772f66ae2df59848139b SHA256 Delivery 9/4/20 9/4/20 Dropp
2f7371a3095fceb9b99bcb2abc176a142c37ca95940c91c58d3321ed54310bd2 SHA256 Delivery 9/3/20 9/3/20 Dropp
110716c7f7f1e2f7e4b6237015ee2855efac37b609977ad451c1b0c8b54d0b63 SHA256 Delivery 9/3/20 9/3/20 Dropp
34f3f6477224c8e17c31fd434470ee098a621b2732b5e8d9ca59f2c6ef5acf57 SHA256 Installation 9/3/20 9/3/20
VBS-S
NYAN
ASCII
progra
9f5bfe12e454f8b67649e52cc064032f0b149492428729fdf7e8c41d6bec6fcb SHA256 Installation 9/3/20 9/3/20
VBS-S
NYAN
ASCII
progra
https://pashupatipaints[.]com/test/minAZ34EXEitscr.exe URL Delivery 9/3/20 9/7/20
f55a23559bb981f9a054297b003293b890b8caa2b7abccef9464b817787352a6 SHA256 Weaponization 9/24/20 9/24/20
LimeC
Versio
2.0.755
365ee8918af55945cfa1a4a8bf30b214814c23833261b3a67117a6237d961806 SHA256 Installation 9/23/20 9/23/20
https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/possible-identity-of-a-kuwaiti-hacker-nyanxcat
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2e64a2918346eaa8b5441a6904d2741c37079456b00c91f2801a3d01c94f4dd5 SHA256 Installation 9/22/20 9/22/20 Dropp
39f394baf297dcabc3bdcbc0f71b2f14a96d0e44df88a16d0f9e4f8bc2d3c3e6 SHA256 Installation 9/19/20 9/19/20 Dropp
dced2da7db2861a40ac1a32cc5eb4d2205c0be6cf49f9f9bd2710fb98ee6cbc2 SHA256 Installation 9/18/20 9/18/20 Async
e7eb31d13152158739d663eeabf2dfde8455deb4a4ffa0587e45676583e5f7e7 SHA256 Installation 9/17/20 9/17/20
Neshta
edited
NYAN
powers
8b226dc5916d9c78eb1e3790241128d2d4ce6cd0b9124230d7574e62f0a28f4c SHA256 Weaponization 9/15/20 9/15/20
Lime-Crypte
version
3e905ce85036d960c7f68c5fc7f848e1f9fb5c550d9e97998be111938b2ac0da SHA256 Delivery 9/27/20 9/27/20 Dropp
033859addb85933297132cf3dc356c2b3780f9e10638149ae9ec8559aae00930 SHA256 Delivery 9/3/20 9/3/20 Dropp
4d4e12de934064e401442a81e83563bfb2c98fb845b115eb60e5b6ce3e2639e2 SHA256 Delivery 9/1/20 9/1/20 JS Dow
d64cb13bb5820b9618e5733537794b8de03a35387b626f26ce20921625dabf53 SHA256 Installation 8/31/20 9/26/20
Neshta
edited
NYAN
powers
dbc0a745c62c9aef393f732f718149fc5abaffe30ddb1d55d978a8bf17e9ae01 SHA256 Weaponization 3/6/20 9/2/20
Reven
v3 -
NYAN
97ca0ed6e618f457b56df8201689affb1a4c5410d29e222730966a36b6176047 SHA256 Delivery 8/30/20 8/30/20
LimeR
Versio
6450208e47c71ac8bfb8dc35e3c37fbeb01c02c021b162352fc8eb44e03af3e6 SHA256 Delivery 8/28/20 8/28/20
Dropp
Shell b
CAT
431dea8a2af305cd0b8d735efbadb1a46f1025b96838bb8b282bab502b001f49 SHA256 Delivery 8/27/20 8/27/20 NJ RA
165749a5f359e0316396cddd2e461f14f11756b62f786561019de99ded742af1 SHA256 Installation 8/26/20 8/26/20
Angry
version
eb8276581ad494331c5586593e9bd533e3545db82eeb00872e0685dc67546305 SHA256 Installation 8/25/20 8/25/20
Async
with M
crypto
mining
Download indicators in CSV format: IR-20-292-001_Hmoud Aljraid NYANxCAT.csv
Appendix A. Additional Imagery
https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/possible-identity-of-a-kuwaiti-hacker-nyanxcat
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Figure 9. Humoud’s Soundcloud Profile Picture
Serial: IR-20-292-001
Country: KW, US
Report Date: 20201018
Industries: All
--- 
Red Sky Alliance has been tracking hacker threats for the past 7 years.  We are a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence
Service organization.  For questions, comments, or assistance, please contact the lab directly at 1-844-492-7225, or
feedback@wapacklabs.com.  
Red Sky Alliance can help protect with attacks such as these.  We provide both internal monitoring in tandem with RedXray
notifications on ‘external’ threats to include, botnet activity, public data breaches, phishing, fraud, and general targeting.
https://www.wapacklabs.com/redxray
Red Sky Alliance is in New Boston, NH USA. We are a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization. For
questions, comments or assistance, please contact the lab directly at 1-844-492-7225, or feedback@wapacklabs.com
Reporting: https://www.redskyalliance.org/
Website: https://www.wapacklabs.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/64265941 
[1] www.youtube[.]com/watch?v=N16d_zvIgTg
[2] google[.]com/maps/contrib/106720573170316530671/reviews/
[3] github[.]com/NYAN-x-CAT
[4] youtube[.]com/watch?v=30BV5U9OGv0, Jun 11, 2014.
[5] youtube[.]com/c/Bomish3l/videos
and youtube[.]com/c/NYANCATx/about
[6] soundcloud[.]com/hmj_7/
[7] virustotal[.]com/gui/file/f55a23559bb981f9a054297b003293b890b8caa2b7abccef9464b817787352a6/
https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/possible-identity-of-a-kuwaiti-hacker-nyanxcat
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[8] Pastebin[.]com/raw/WJD0PWxV
[9] github[.]com/NYAN-x-CAT/Lime-Crypter
[10] www[.]youtube[.]com/watch?v=_dYngLbXUno
[11] virustotal[.]com/gui/file/22096a0846ab1399647bb2cc5596c649fa6508d2bd09db05476b27acd9d4eea2/details
[12] virustotal[.]com/gui/file/504fc502fef2fceaae027edb0e037e4e39a0ee62ca9f15ab316c70e8d6e5b740/details
[13] virustotal[.]com/gui/file/2cf26e5fe9f31386d57170cc51ec46d6e4b73e4760826d65ca1a7afc8c82acc2/details
[14] virustotal[.]com/gui/file/5747ad762067a8a6617d2a4362304c24e11b21d6deed2da2adb31b8d55a4607c/content/strings
[15] virustotal[.]com/gui/file/74de28d70ee4bd414597561b696f865cb3c88fd3626161d36c423d35154e11a5/details
[16] virustotal[.]com/gui/file/e7eb31d13152158739d663eeabf2dfde8455deb4a4ffa0587e45676583e5f7e7/details
[17] 6450208e47c71ac8bfb8dc35e3c37fbeb01c02c021b162352fc8eb44e03af3e6
and virustotal[.]com/gui/url/922efd801fc095b488126248f7c55d3d897fc14376d4d22a48966427ee8a421a/detection
and 165749a5f359e0316396cddd2e461f14f11756b62f786561019de99ded742af1
Source: https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/possible-identity-of-a-kuwaiti-hacker-nyanxcat
https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/possible-identity-of-a-kuwaiti-hacker-nyanxcat
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